Freedom of information system review would not be derailed by early N.S. election

Work on a review of Nova Scotia's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act will continue even in the event of an early provincial election call, Justice Department spokesperson Lynette MacLeod says.

Former justice minister Brad Johns launched the review of the act in the fall of 2023. It is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2025.

Although Nova Scotia's fixed election date is July 15, 2025, speculation is ramping up that Premier Tim Houston could call a snap election this fall.

"When the legislature is dissolved for an election, civil servants continue to conduct necessary government business including policy work to review legislation,"MacLeod said in an email this week.

Justice Minister Barb Adams, who was attending meetings with justice ministers from the rest of the country this week, would not agree to an interview while she was away.

MacLeod said in the email that senior staff from the departments of Justice, Service Nova Scotia and Cyber Security and Digital Solutions meet weekly as part of the review.

"The working group has engaged with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, provincial government departments, municipalities and villages, other public bodies, caucus offices and the media," MacLeod said.

Last major update in 1999

More than 100 submissions were received. The review group is also considering recommendations that have come from previous reports by the province's information and privacy commissioner, along with legislation in other places, said MacLeod.

MacLeod said the minister is committed to modernizing the act. However, Adams has not said if she is committed to endorsing all recommendations that come from the review or bringing forward legislative changes during the upcoming spring session of the legislature.

The last major update of the FOIPOP Act was 1999.

There have been concernsabout the act's effectivenessin light of technological changes through the years and that government departments and agencies are not compelled to follow recommendations from the information and privacy commissioner.

• Nova Scotia's information commissioner 'very frustrated' by current system

The current and previous commissioners have called on both the Tory and former Liberal governments to overhaul the act and give it more teeth.

Broken promises

Premier Tim Houston was a vocal critic of the situation while in opposition, vowing that he would give the commissioner order-making power if he ever formed government. It was a promise he repeated during the 2021 provincial election and in the early days after the Progressive Conservativescame to power.

But Houston started backing away from that promise after he became premier.

After delaying the promise for his first two years in office, the current review was launched in September 2023, effectively pushing any potential changes to late in the Tory mandate or perhaps beyond the next provincial election.

Former Liberal premier Stephen McNeil also promised to give the commissioner order-making power, only to declare that promise a mistake once he took office.